Memorial service for Taras Shevchenko
The Odesa community annually commemorated the anniversary of T. H. Shevchenko’s death at its gatherings.
The Odesa community annually commemorated the anniversary of T. H. Shevchenko’s death at its gatherings. The collection “Pominki Tarasa Grigorievicha Shevchenka 25-go Fevralia 1879 goda v Odesse” brings together publications from the Odesa newspapers “Pravda” (No. 43), “Odesskiy vestnik” (No. 43), and “Novorossiyskiy telegraf” (No. 1194), dedicated to the eighteenth anniversary of Shevchenko’s death, along with a review of his poems titled “O strunakh Tarasovoy kobzy”. The compiler of the edition, Ukrainian historian, writer, publicist, and public figure Oleksii Andriievskyi, regarded it as essential to spread knowledge about the “Kobzar” and to awaken public interest in his works. All proceeds from the book’s sale were designated for the establishment of a public school named after Shevchenko, an initiative launched by the Odesa community in 1878. Readers were kept informed about new donations through “Odesskiy vestnik”, which also enlisted the support of other local periodicals. Even the “Novorossiyskiy telegraf”, not generally sympathetic to Ukraine, joined the effort. By early 1879, the total had already reached 1,369 rubles; however, the authorities prohibited the school’s opening, and the funds were instead allocated to the Shevchenko Room (“Shevchenkivska svitlytsia*”, constructed next to the poet’s grave.